Gothic Literature- "The Castle of Otranto" - Psychoanalytic Explanation

"The Castle of Otranto" can be interpreted as a "dream work." By interpreting the novella as a dream, it can be analyzed at both the manifest and latent levels by applying Freudian concepts and ideas. According to Freud, dreams fulfill wishes and vent unconscious desires. At the manifest level or the obvious and clear level, Walpole fulfills his desire of helping a friend and removing an evil tyrant from power. Manfred, the prince of Otranto …

…Freud, is known as the "Oedipus Complex," where a son desires to kill his father in order to be with his mother. Although not to such an extreme, the "Oedipus Complex" can be applied and seen in the novella. Manfred is very like Walpole's father in that Manfred has an unhappy relationship with Hippolita and decides to divorce her to marry Isabella. Unlike Walpole's father, Manfred does not succeed but this leads to his demise.